Iran Orders Bahraini Diplomat To Leave In Tit-For-Tat Move

Iranian news media are reporting that Iran's Foreign Ministry has declared Bahrain's second-ranking diplomat in Tehran persona non grata and ordered him out of the country.

Coming a day after Bahrain ordered an Iranian diplomat to leave Manama, the tit-for-tat move by Tehran gives Vice Ambassador Bassam al-Dosari 72 hours to leave the country, the Fars news agency said on its website October 2.

Bahrain withdrew its ambassador from Tehran October 1 and expelled Dosari's Iranian counterpart, accusing Iran of being behind recent bomb attacks on its security forces.

It said Iran was behind a large bomb-making factory and 1.5 tons of explosives uncovered by police near the capital this week.

Tehran has denied involvement in any violence in Bahrain. But while not providing military support, Iran has said it will stand up for the rights of Bahrain's large Shi'ite population, which comprises a majority in the small island nation.